I can see the value of a newly introduced balanced budget amendment that requires that federal spending in any year to be offset by revenues in that same year. But there is a worrisome drawback to this policy that must be addressed or Social Security payments will not be able to keep up with the aging Baby Boomer generation.

The growing amount that the United States will spend on Social Security each year has already been raised over the years and currently the U.S. Social Security Administration holds $2.6 trillion waiting to be allocated to the Americans who have contributed to it their whole working lives.

The problem is that under the balanced budget amendment, it would be unconstitutional for Social Security payments to exceed the amount of new revenue — even though there is a huge pool of Social Security money already set aside for the rising needs. The same is true for federal civilian and military retirement.

If the balanced budget amendment is to proceed, the representatives and senators we elected to Congress must first fix this dilemma in the bill that would have awful consequences on every Baby Boomer's retirement.

Richard Golden,San Antonio

Elected officials talk to each other

Pasco commissioners Pat Mulieri, Ann Hildebrand and Jack Mariano have registered to speak for three minutes each before our Pasco legislative delegation, the senators and representatives who represent the Pasco area in the state Legislature. Mulieri wants to speak about doing more for our homeless, Hildebrand about Tampa Bay Water and Mariano to request legislation to change how the PSC sets utility rates. All may be issues we all care about.

But give me a break! Every member of our Pasco legislative delegation and all of our county commissioners are Republicans from the same area. Now, the commissions feel they must sign up for three minutes to speak to their fellow Republicans about issues we in Pasco may be concerned about? What kind of farce is this? Are we to believe they never talk to one another and never got together to have a coffee or a beer and discuss these and other issues? Are we to believe Jack Mariano has never spoken to Sen. Mike Fasano about utility rates?

What this farce exhibits is the problem we face, not with dysfunctional government, but with dysfunctional one-party government. Is there some unwritten law that prohibits local government from speaking to the state Legislature?

I have signed up for my three minutes, but as always I will be the last to speak because Republicans don't want to hear my condemnation of their vote for HB 45 that finally destroyed our remaining local gun control laws. The question I will ask is "How much does it cost in blood and treasury to run a state without any controls on firearms?" I expect to hear dead silence.

Art Hayhoe, Wesley Chapel

Buc fans want bit of Glazers' largess

I would like to thank the Glazer family for the gift of $7.87 million in bonus to the 500 non-playing staff members of their English soccer team. Yet they can't buy up the remaining unsold tickets of our home games so our Bucs games in Tampa can be televised.

The owners of the Detroit Lions used to buy up the remaining tickets so there were few blackouts in Detroit. Then the Lions got smart and built a smaller stadium and now have few, if any blackouts.

It looks like the Glazer family has short arms and deep pockets when it comes the Bucs fans. Now, we know where their values are, and its not football, but soccer.

The letter criticizing guest columnist James Pettican for his comments about Gov. Rick Scott spending millions of dollars of his own money to get elected as governor of Florida is absurd but not surprising because Republican voters accept it as a normality. It was published in all major newspapers throughout our country, so why pretend it did not occur?

Scott is a businessman and ex-CEO of Columbia/HCA, the company that committed the greatest Medicare fraud in American history right under his nose. Scott claimed he was not aware of the fraud, claiming innocence, and pleading the Fifth Amendment more than 75 times.

It appears that the voters in Florida were desperate, picking Scott and ignoring his shady past. In the mean time, they keep blaming Obama for all that is done, or not done. Who cares as long as he looks bad for the next presidential election.

Robert Rodriguez, Spring Hill

>>Your voice counts

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